Syrian rebels step up efforts to weaken government's air power

View full sizeIn an image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, smoke rises from buildings after heavy shelling in Homs, Syria, on Thursday. Shaam News Network via AP

Syrian rebels stepped up their siege of a government helicopter base and clashed with soldiers near Aleppo's international airport on Friday, part of an effort to chip away at the air power that poses the biggest challenge to their advances against the regime of President Bashar Assad.

That airborne threat came into stark relief the same day, when a government airstrike on a northern town killed 14 people -- most of them women and children, activists said. More than 21 months into Syria's conflict, the Assad regime is counting more than ever on its air force to block rebel gains.

Rebels in the north, a region largely clear of government troops, realize this and have launched campaigns to seize all of the area's airports, hoping such a move will protect their forces and the civilians who back them.

This push in many ways represents the mismatched nature of Syria's civil war, with numerous but lightly armed rebels fighting a highly sophisticated army, albeit one badly weakened by defections.

Rebels say they have surrounded four airports in the northern province of Aleppo. In recent days, they have posted dozens of videos online showing fighters shooting mortars, homemade rockets and sniper rifles at targets inside the bases.

It remains unclear whether rebels will be able to seize any of the bases soon, but they have managed to stop air traffic at one and limit movement at others by firing on all approaching aircraft with heavy machine guns.

"The airports are now considered the most important thing the rebels can focus on because all of the strikes now come from the air," Aleppo activist Mohammed Saeed said via Skype.

Saeed said clashes between rebels and government soldiers raged until Friday morning around the Mannagh helicopter base near the Turkish border. He said other rebel groups continued to hold positions around the Kuwiras military airport southwest of the city of Aleppo and clashed with soldiers near Aleppo's international airport and neighboring Nerab military airport.

'''Also on Friday, Russia's foreign minister said Moscow had proposed talks with the main Syrian opposition coalition, even though it has criticized Western countries for recognizing the group.

Sergey Lavrov told reporters that Russia has contacted the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces through the Russian Embassy in Egypt to suggest a meeting with coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib.

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